Unrequited
by HandwrittenStories
Summary: Sometimes love is the only thing that life won't deliver to us, but then again it's hardly something that we deserve.
1. Chapter 1

They had met by accident, though maybe accident was too strong a word for when she had met the man who would ultimately sculpt her life; it had been more of a trivial spin of fate's wheels that their paths had crossed.

Sakura had come across him standing in the front entryway of their home, his small hand clutching his mother's skirt as she spoke with her eldest brother at the door. Until then Sakura had only seen quick glances of him, when both of their families happened to arrive home at the same time, or sometimes when she made her excursions into their front driveway. Seeing him now though, in the house she lived in, was enough to bring Sakura to a standstill at the foot of the stairs. In her young mind he was akin to a stranger that had somehow waltzed through their front door unannounced. Just then he turned his attention from craning his neck upwards and looking at her brother to looking at her. They looked each other in the eye, he with innocent curiosity and she with a mix of slight suspicion and interest.

"Sakura-chan, come here for a moment," Aran said as he beckoned to her. Obediently she went a stood by his side, still looking at the strange boy. "This is Mrs. Kirkland," he said, "and her son, Arthur."

"It is nice to meet you," Sakura said and bowed formally. Even though she had barely started school she was still expected to show good manners, especially to guest in their home.

"What a polite girl," Mrs. Kirkland said, "Why don't you say hello, Arthur?"

"Hello," he said, and thrust out his hand towards her.

She stared at it, unsure of what to do. Though she went to a school with a large number of students, Sakura had very little exposure to anything other than her family's own customs; the hand made her recoil against Aran, one hand gripping onto his pants leg tightly.

"I'm sorry," he said to Mrs. Kirkland, "Our parents have her enrolled in a Japanese kindergarten." Aran gave her shoulder a gentle nudge, "Sakura, you know how other people say hello."

Hesitantly, she took Arthur's hand and looked at him. He smiled as he shook her hand and she could help but give a small smile of her own.

"Arthur is going to be staying with us for the day," Aran explained, "While mother and father are away I will watch the two of you." When Sakura looked up at him, he smiled. "So I hope you are nice to your new friend."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Mrs. Kirkland said. She smiled at the two young children as well. "Sakura seems like a very nice young lady."

With a wave to her son, Mrs. Kirkland left the two of them to Aran.

"Sakura-chan, would you and Arthur-bou like to play in the living room while I finish making lunch?" This was met by an eager nod from his younger sister. "Then I trust that the two of you will behave while I work."

As Aran left Arthur quickly attempted to scamper off into the living room; quickly Sakura stood in front of him, putting up a hand to indicate that he should stop.

Sakura pointed out the neatly lined up pairs of shoes by the doorway. "You need to take your shoes off first," she told him.

Arthur tugged off his shoes and put them in the same place before looking towards Sakura again. She nodded her approval and showed him into the living room, which was modeled after a traditional Japanese one. Most of the space was open white carpet, save a coffee table and couch on one side of the room.

"What would you like to play, Arthur?" she asked.

"Whatever you want to." He said. Thinking for a moment he got on his knees as well, but just as soon as he tried to put his weight on his legs Arthur shuffled back and sat crossed-legged on the floor.

Watching him seem to fall backwards onto the carpet made Sakura laugh. She covered her mouth and tried to stifle her giggle as Arthur turned to her with a slight scowl, crossing his arms over his chest. This only made her laugh harder, even though anyone in her family would have scolded her for doing so, it was rude to draw attention to someone else's lack of grace.

"I'm sorry," she said as she tried her hardest to become composed, "I shouldn't laugh."

"You shouldn't," he muttered.

She bowed the same way her mother did when her father became upset. "I am very sorry Arthur-san," Sakura said, keeping her eyes lowered, "I did not mean to laugh at you."

This got the reaction she had hoped for. Arthur uncrossed his arms, tapping her on the shoulder. "It's okay," he mumbled, offering her a smile.

Happy that any sort of conflict had been avoided, Sakura took advantage of Arthur's good mood to change the subject. "I know something that we could do."

"What?"

Finding the deck of cards that Aran kept on the table, Sakura held them up for Arthur to see.

"Cards? What can we do with cards?" Arthur raised an eyebrow, unsure of what she had in mind.

"My big sister taught me how to play a game, it's called 'go fish'."

"I know that game!"

"Then, do you want to play?" she asked.

"Of course I do, I'll shuffle."

Sakura gave him the deck, watching as he shuffled. Because he was younger all Arthur could do was cut the deck into small piles before putting them back together in a random order. Afterwards he dealt seven for each of them and picked up his own hand.

"How old are you, Sakura?" Arthur asked as he set aside a pair of cards.

"Six, what about you?"

"The same," Arthur said, pausing for a moment. "But I've never seen you before, how come?"

She could only offer a shrug as an answer, there wasn't a reasonable explanation to her either. "Do you have any threes?"

"No, go fish."

Drawing a card Sakura found another pair and set it aside. "Maybe, we could see each other now, since we didn't before," she suggested.

"But only if you visit me next time," his tone was completely serious as he spoke, "it's only fair."

"I'll ask my papa when he comes home then."

"He isn't in the kitchen anymore?" Arthur asked.

She laughed again. "Aran isn't my papa, he's my big brother."

He still didn't seem to entirely believe her, but settled for turning his attention back to the game. "Do you have any aces?"

"Go fish," Sakura said. Her hand had turned into only three cards while Arthur still had six. "And what about you, Arthur-san? Do you have a big brother?"

"I have one, but he doesn't live with me anymore."

"Why?"

"He went away for school, so I only see him when he comes home to visit."

She paused, unsure of what to say next.

"I think it's your turn now," he said.

"Oh, right, do you have a jack?"

"Go fish," Arthur told her, "Do you have any tens?"

Just as she was giving it to him there was the sound of shutting cabinets in the kitchen and someone humming to themselves.

"What have you two decided on doing Sakura-chan?" Aran asked as he came into the living room.

"We borrowed your cards for a game, I'm sorry for not asking you before." She said.

"There is no need for you to ask me for something like that," Aran took a seat on the floor with the two of them. He picked up on of the pairs they had set aside and smiled, "As long as you two are careful, this deck is my favorite."

"But I thought that your other deck was your favorite," Sakura said, "The one with the elephants on the back instead of the front."

"You can't have two favorites!" Arthur chided, though he didn't have any idea what they were talking about.

"Well they are both my favorite, because they are both very special to me."

"You can only pick one _onii-san_, "she insisted, "So which is it?"

"That would be the same as asking me if I cared more for you or Ai. It is impossible for me to choose between the two of you."

"But if you had to pick?" Arthur asked.

"_Hai_, if you could only have one deck," Sakura added, not wanting Aran to think they were asking him to choose a favorite sister.

Aran thought for a moment, looking bemused at his two interrogators. "I would then pick... this one," he said showing them the decorative face of the card in his hand, "Since it was a very special one that came from a friend." As he spoke he looked from Arthur to Sakura. "Maybe someday your friends will give both of you a special gift as well."

**Writer's Ramble**

**A big thank you to greygreenwolf who beta read this story for me!**


	2. Chapter 2

The room was crowded with half-filled boxes of clothing and playthings, all of them Sakura's. Taking another armful of things from her closet she set them down on the bed then took something from the top of the pile and removed the hanger. Ai did the same, casting the hanger aside into the growing pile they had and folding the dress before putting it into another box. Sakura did her best to keep up with her older sister's pace but still fell behind, having to take more care in keeping things neat.

"_Onee-san_," Sakura said as she got another handful of clothes, this time from her dresser.

"Yes?"

"How long are we going to be gone?"

Ai sighed and picked up the hangers, putting them into another box and closing it before picking up a shirt from the new pile of clothing Sakura brought. "I've already told you, we're moving, not going on vacation."

"I know, but mama said-"

"You need to start calling her 'mother' you're starting junior high Sakura, it's time you started acting more mature," Ai chided as she continued filling another one of the boxes with clothing to be given away when they left.

"_Mother_ said that we would stay as long as grandmother needed us."

"Yes, and if father's company will allow him to have his position back afterwards."

"Why wouldn't they give it back? Papa-" Sakura noted the impatient look on Ai's face, "Father works very hard."

"It's something that you'll understand later," Ai said, "Did you want to bring this with you?"

In her hands was a favorite shirt of Sakura's. She took it from her sister and folded it carefully, trying to make it as compact as possible inside her box of things to keep. Everyone in the family was allowed an extra box to pack everything in that they would send ahead of them to their home in Kyoto the rest they would get rid of. It had been two weeks since her parents had announced that the family was going to return to Japan to care for her father's aging parents. Since then they had all gone about packing and saying goodbye to their friends and neighbors. Except for Sakura, she was putting off telling Arthur, in a way not ready to admit to herself the one thing she would miss. But now she had let the days pass by and with only one day left she was beginning to regret her decision.

Soon the box was filled with clothes, the others having become fuller in the process as well. Standing up from the bed Ai shut the flaps of the box, the bulk of Sakura's clothing forcing them open enough to see a strip of light green peeking through the gap. Ai pushed the box away from the bed and went to the doorway, telling Sakura to wait there for a moment. Getting up from where she had been kneeling on the floor, Sakura walked about for a moment to stretch her legs. From down the hall she heard Ai and Aran talking, most likely trying to find the packing tape, from her parent's room next door she heard the scuffling of their heavy bureau being taken apart. All of it sounded so unfamiliar to her, all of life's normal divisions erased by uprooting their entire household.

Against the windowsill was a nook and Sakura took a seat on it, staring out at the street below. Outside the sky was a cloudless blue, the perfect image of a summer afternoon. With a sigh she pressed her forehead against the glass, watching people on the street pass by without much interest. The traffic wasn't very heavy, mostly people out for a walk with their dogs or children, a group of school aged girls, a couple holding hands, and a ball.

Sakura snapped out of her daydream when she saw the soccer ball rolling down the street. Shortly afterwards Arthur came running after it, bringing the ball to a stop in front of her window. His hair was in complete disarray and if Sakura knew any better she would guess that he had scraped his elbow or some other part of his body. Grinning he waved for her to come down, most likely too excited about something to bother with formalities or to notice the stoic expression on her face. With a quiet sigh she got up and peaked down the hall, Ai and Aran had their backs turned to her. The door to her parents room was shut, the low hum of their voices still audible. Nobody noticed her as she quietly went downstairs, too engrossed in their own packing. The door was almost silent as she cautiously closed it behind her.

"What took you so long?" Arthur asked. He was still grinning at her, still unaware of her less than happy expression.

"Arthur, I-"

"But it's still early right? C'mon let's go to the woods!" He took her hand and tried to lead her down the street towards the small thicket of woods that was only a few blocks away from their street. "You don't have to be home until dark right?"

"Yes. But Arthur-"she said again quietly.

"If we hurry we'll probably have enough time to make it up the hill and back before your parents get back."

By now they were almost halfway to the woods, Arthur tugging the reluctant Sakura along and still talking excitedly. By now it felt like her chest was about to burst, tears of frustration stinging in her eyes. No doubt Ai had gone back into her room to help her finish packing, and soon she would come looking for Sakura and then she would take her back home and then…

Someone shouted for them to stop, it vaguely sounded like her own, and then Arthur had stopped talking and was looking at her, he said something but she didn't hear it. Instead Sakura let her wrist drop from his hold and crumpled onto the front steps of a house, glaring down at her feet.

"Sakura," Arthur's voice was quieter as he spoke, "What's wrong?"

This was it, she had to tell him now.

"I'm leaving," she mumbled.

"What?" He asked and moved closer to hear.

"I'm leaving Arthur," she said again.

"Well, I guess I should have asked if you could come outside first. But we can still hang out tomorrow right?"

This was met by a shake of Sakura's head. Her voice seemed to have left her and the rest of her body felt strangely heavy, like the weight of what was happening had finally caught up with her. Pulling her knees towards her chest seemed to take the rest of her energy, and her head fell into her lap.

"The day after then?"

Another shake of her head.

"Then when?"

"I told you Arthur," she said, "I'm leaving. We're moving to Japan, and I don't know if we're going to come back."

Both of them were silent for a moment, and Sakura took the time to wipe away any sort of tears from her eyes. The minutes seemed to drag on in silence, neither knowing what to say next, it was finally Sakura who broke the silence.

"I need to go, I wasn't really supposed to go out today," she said. Standing up she turned towards home, Ai's stern voice already audible in her mind.

"Sakura! Wait for a minute!" Arthur called after her. He got up from the steps as well and jogged after her.

At the corner he fell in step with her, crossing the street before taking hold of her wrist again. She stopped, since she would already be in trouble once she came home Sakura figured she might as well let Arthur finish speaking to her.

"You never told me when you're leaving," he said.

"Tomorrow,"

"Then… I still want to walk in the woods with you before you leave."

"I can't, there's no way I can leave this afternoon," she muttered.

"Well, what about tonight? Can I see you tonight?"

"Why parents won't say yes to that! Nobody's allowed over while the house is-"

"I'm not talking about your house Sakura," he interrupted, "I want to walk in the woods one last time."

"What? You're crazy!"

"I am not!" he insisted, "Who knows when you're coming back, we have to do something special before you leave."

Sakura smiled, like always his frank personality cheered her up. "You're still crazy," she said.

"Who cares? It doesn't matter if long you're back in time to leave in the morning. So we'll come back with enough time for you to sneak back in."

Arthur had made up his mind by now and there was no way for Sakura to be convinced otherwise. But she was in no mood to stop him anyway; it was something that she wanted to do as well. So as they walked back to Sakura's house she began to come up with a plan of her own. This time she would only be getting a scolding for going out without permission, but sneaking out at night would be a completely different story. If she got caught… there wasn't any punishment that she could compare it to, she'd never done anything like this before.

"I'll come by when my family's asleep," Arthur said. They had reached her door by now. "Wait for me in the window alright?"

"Alright," she said, "But Arthur."

"Yeah?"

"Be careful, I don't want you to get in trouble because of me."

He grinned. "Of course we won't get in trouble! Everyone will be asleep!"

Sakura laughed, and Arthur waved to her as he walked down the street towards his own home. Turning the doorknob slowly, trying to keep it from making as little noise as possible. It didn't matter however, Ai was waiting for Sakura in her room, packing tape in hand, most of the other boxes filled and a stern lecture prepared for her.


End file.
